eOne Confirms Talks To Purchase Alliance

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday May 28, 2012 @ 1:39pm EDTTags: Alliance Films, Entertainment One, eOne

Entertainment One confirmed today that the distributor has held negotiations about purchasing Alliance Films, as Deadline reported last week from the Cannes Film Festival. Both companies had remained publicly mum about the negotiations but eOne said today it wanted to comment because of market speculation, according to the Toronto Globe and Mail. Both companies are Canadian-based. Alliance is owned by Goldman Sachs. “The board confirms it has held discussions with the shareholders of Alliance Films but there can be no certainty this will lead to a transaction,” eOne said in statement. “The company would only undertake such a transaction on acceptable terms, and on the basis that the directors believe it would be financially and strategically value enhancing for the company and its shareholders.” If a deal were to come to pass, eEon said it would finance the transaction with a combination of debt and equity.

The statement about Alliance came as eOne reported earnings for last fiscal year. The company said profit before taxes increased 103% to $37 million with revenue up 7% to $809 million. Much of the revenue was from The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2, to which it owns Canadian rights. Purchasing Alliance would give eOne Canadian rights to 11,000 titles including The Hunger Games. Alliance also owns 50% of the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation TV franchise, which Goldman doesn’t intend to include in the deal.

Comments (0)

Tony Blair: It Would Be Strange If Politicians Didn’t Have Relationships With Big Media

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday May 28, 2012 @ 11:47am EDTTags: News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, Tony Blair

In a moment reminiscent of last year’s shaving-cream pie attack on Rupert Murdoch at a Parliamentary committee hearing, an unwelcome guest infiltrated the Leveson Inquiry into UK media ethics today. This time, it was former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair testifying and the attack was a verbal one. An antiwar protester burst in shouting, “The man is a war criminal!” before being forcibly removed. Blair, who supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, and who told the inquiry there was nothing odd about speaking with Murdoch three times before the war, was unruffled.

Related: UK Editor Arrested In News Corp Scandal

Earlier in the day, Blair said that as a politician, running afoul of a media group “means you are then effectively blocked from getting your message across.” Blair gave evidence as to his relationship with Rupert Murdoch and the relationship of politicians and the media in general. He avidly courted the News Corp chief from his early days as head of the Labour Party. After Blair paid a visit to Australia in 1995 in what he said was a “very deliberate and very strategic” move to curry favor, Murdoch famously said, “I suspect we’ll end up making love like two porcupines – very carefully.” Murdoch’s Sun newspaper backed Blair in all of his runs at office. Read More »

Comments (0)

Hot Trailer: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday May 28, 2012 @ 11:40am EDTTags: The Dark Knight Rises

A third TV spot has emerged for The Dark Knight Rises:

Comments (0)

Endemol France Adds Exec Nicholas Coppermann As Managing Director

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Monday May 28, 2012 @ 6:22am EDTTags: Endemol, M6, Nicholas Copperman

Endemol, the world’s largest independent production company, today announced that Nicholas Coppermann has been appointed as Managing Director of Endemol France.

Copperman will report directly to Virginie Calmels, who was recently promoted to Chief Operating Officer of Endemol Group and continues to oversee Endemol France as its Chairman. Calmels will now share her time between her responsibilities at Endemol France and the position she has taken up internationally at Group level.

In his new role Nicholas Coppermann will support Calmels, taking responsibility for the day to day operational management of Endemol France, which has recent credits including hit series for TF1 such as Secret Story, The Money Drop and les 12 Coups de Midi, and Undercover Boss for M6.

Read More »

Comments (0)

SUMMER SLUMP? Will Smith’s ‘MIB3′ Slows To $70M Memorial Weekend; Fifth Major Movie To Disappoint While ‘The Avengers’ Sets New $500M Domestic Speed Record

By NIKKI FINKE | Monday May 28, 2012 @ 12:45am EDTTags: Box Office, Chernobyl Diaries, Men In Black 3, The Avengers

SUNDAY PM, 5TH UPDATE: My sources report a single-digit drop from Saturday to Sunday as Sony hoped (right now -8%). So Men In Black 3 domestic projections of $55M three-day weekend and $70M four-day Memorial Holiday may stand. Although rival studios say the numbers are $54.5M/$68M. That’s not anywhere close to the $90M where Hollywood thought this popular franchise could open its threequel, or the $80M which Sony expected. Even not adjusted for the 3D premium, or higher ticket pricesm or inflation, MIB3 couldn’t beat Will Smith’s I Am Legend ($77M in 2007) or Hancock ($62M in 2008). Problem is that MIB3 was very expensive to make. (see below)

SUNDAY AM, 4TH UPDATE: A lot was riding on this weekend’s worldwide totals for Will Smith (back at cineplexes after a 4-year hiatus) and Sony (reviving a costly Columbia Pictures franchise that was dormant for a decade). But Memorial Weekend newcomer Men In Black 3 is now the 5th major studio release that has underperformed domestically at the start of Summer 2012. Plus, demonstrating more trouble for Hollywood, overall moviegoing of $190M is down a huge -32% from last year’s record. Overseas, MIB3 was off to a better start, and Sony is projecting it to take in an estimated $202M worldwide total during its first few days of release in 106 territories. Of that, IMAX sales contributed approximately $12M to the global cume, which is 20% higher than the previous record for a worldwide Memorial Day release because of aggressive IMAX building overseas. Sony said MIB3 was #1 in 104 countries. In this country, yes, MIB3 finally vanquished three-time #1  Marvel’s The Avengers which was starting its 4th week in domestic release. Even so there’s continuing good news for Disney’s 3D superhero assembly: it crossed $500M on Saturday, reaching the mark in just 23 days which is setting a new speed record (better than Avatarwhich took 32 days). In 3,918 theaters, it’s a solid #2 with about a $36.9M three-day weekend and a $48.5M Memorial Holiday. It is currently the #4 film of all time globally and domestically and is currently the #5 film of all time internationally, passing Transformers: Dark of the Moon ($771M) this weekend. Even if Avengers weren’t sucking the air out of North American box office, trust me when I say the movie moguls are worried what lies ahead for their films in June after a dismal domestic May… Read More »

Comments 207

Cannes Finale: The Jury Talks And Hammond’s Analysis Of The Winners

By PETE HAMMOND | Sunday May 27, 2012 @ 6:21pm EDTTags: Amour, Cannes Film Festival, Carlos Reygados, Mads Mikkelsen, Michael Haneke, Palme d'Or
Pete Hammond

It’s all over now, and really all over at Cannes for the American contingent of five competition entries plus English-language films like Walter Salles’ On The Road and David Cronenberg’s not-well-received Robert Pattinson starrer Cosmopolis. The Cannes Jury led by italian actor-director Nanni Moretti has spoken and Americans hoping for a repeat of last year when the single U.S. entry, The Tree Of Life actually won the Palme d’Or, are crying in their french onion soup. At the post-awards press conference American jury member Alexander Payne was asked if he thought the ‘Americannes’ snub said anything about the overall quality of the country’s movies. He snapped back that one festival does not speak for the state of cinema in any one country.

Related: Michael Haneke’s ‘Amour’ Takes Palme d’Or; ‘Beyond The Hills’ Wins Screenplay, Actress Nods

The closest thing to a film American audiences won’t need subtitles for is Ken Loach’s wonderful The Angels Share which is set in Glasgow and features accents so thick the filmmaker decided to add English subtitles. It is also the only comedy to take a prize as the jury mainly favored some of the more dour, serious-minded films in the race. Cannes juries often do that. Backstage Loach was elegant when he said his film shows solidarity with all those in Europe who resist austerity and believe “another world, a better world is possible”.

Related: ‘Mud’: Did Cannes Save One Of The Best For Last?

There’s also one head-scratcher just about every year and this year it’s a beheaded scratcher, Post Tenebras Lux from Mexico’s Carlos Reygadas in which a man rather remarkably manages to twist off his head using only his hands. There’s also a pointless orgy scene thrown in but even its defenders are hard-pressed to say what this film is about. So of course they gave him a major prize, Best Director. At the press conference at least two of the jurors strongly defended the film. They were so convincing they had me believing that I must have seen a different film. Read More »

Comments (18)

Serial Killer Drama Tops BAFTA TV Awards

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday May 27, 2012 @ 6:03pm EDTTags: Appropriate Adult, BAFTA Awards, Dominic West, Emily Watson

Dominic West, Emily Watson and Monica Dolan won acting awards at the TV BAFTAs today for their roles in Appropriate Adult, a miniseries about Britain’s controversial investigation of serial killer Fred West and his wife Rosemary. Dominic West played Fred, Watson portrayed a social worker in the case and Dolan played Rosemary — beating Dame Maggie Smith who was nominated for Downton Abbey. Andrew Scott was voted best supporting actor for Sherlock, in which he plays the arch-nemesis Moriarty to Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes. Cumberbash was nominated for best actor but lost to Dominic West. But Appropriate Adult lost to another miniseries, This Is England ’88.

Complete list of winners:

LEADING ACTOR — Dominic West, Appropriate Adult - ITV1

LEADING ACTRESS — Emily Watson, Appropriate Adult - ITV1

SUPPORTING ACTOR — Andrew Scott, Sherlock - BBC One

SUPPORTING ACTRESS — Monica Dolan, Appropriate Adult - ITV1
Read More »

Comments (0)

CANNES: Michael Haneke’s ‘Amour’ Takes Palme d’Or; ‘Beyond The Hills’ Wins Screenplay, Actress Nods

By PETE HAMMOND | Sunday May 27, 2012 @ 1:28pm EDTTags: Amour, Cannes, Cannes Film Festival, Palme d'Or
Pete Hammond

Michael Haneke’s Amour today took the Palme d’Or prize for Best Film at the finale to this year’s Cannes Film Festival. A hugely popular win at today’s ceremony as well as its premiere, the intimate drama about an elderly couple confronting the end of life was Haneke’s second win in three years. He won in 2009 for White Ribbon. Haneke and his actors on stage Jean Louis Trintignant and Emmanuele Riva received a huge standing ovation. The five American entries were shut out of the top awards — last year’s winner was the single U.S. entry, Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life, and all this year’s were foreign-language films. FULL ANALYSIS and interviews with the jury coming.

Cosmina Stratan and Christina Flutor shared the Best Actress prize for Çristian Mungiu’s Beyond The Hills. Mungiu also was awarded the prize for best screenplay for Beyond The Hills, which was a rare case in which the jury honored one film with two awards. Mads Mikkelsen was named best actor for Jagten (The Hunt) directed by Thomas Vinterberg. Carlos Reygadas was named best director for Post Tenebras Lux. The Jury Prize went to Ken Loach’s The Angels Share. The ceremony began with the prize for Best Short Film going to Sezziz Be Deng (Silent) by L. Rezan Yesilbas.

This year’s Sundance Film Festival hit Beasts Of The Southern Wild, which … Read More »

Comments (5)

Sundance Selects Acquires ‘Like Someone In Love’: Cannes

By MIKE FLEMING | Sunday May 27, 2012 @ 9:48am EDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Like Someone In Love, Sundance Selects
Mike Fleming

CANNES, FRANCE (May 27, 2012) – Sundance Selects announced today from the 2012 Cannes Film Festival that the company is acquiring all US rights to LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE directed and written by former Palme d’Or winner Abbas Kiarostami (CERTIFIED COPY, THE TASTE OF CHERRY). The film is an MK2 and Eurospace Production. It stars Rin Takanashi, Tadashi Okuno and Ryo Kase. It was produced by Marin Karmitz (MK2) and Kenzo Horikoshi (Eurospace), and associate produced by Nathanael Karmitz and Charles Gillibert. LIKE SOMEONE IN LOVE made its world premiere in competition earlier in the week at the Cannes Film Festival.

Read More »

Comments (0)

Nicole Kidman Speaks Out On Taking Risks, Roles And Taking Over Cannes: Interview

By PETE HAMMOND | Sunday May 27, 2012 @ 9:28am EDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Grace Kelly, HBO, Hemingway And Gellhorn, Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
Pete Hammond

With two movies premiering in  the Official Selection on successive nights and big worldwide market pre-sales announced for an upcoming film in which she plays Grace Kelly, Nicole Kidman ruled the Croisette in the second half of the Cannes Film Festival this week, and though she looked every inch the glamorous movie star on those back-to-back jaunts up the steps of the Grand Theatre Lumiere, it’s hard work invading the world’s most famous film festival. Perhaps that is why when she arrived Friday morning for Deadline’s interview and entered the Majestic Hotel’s 6th floor suite with its sweeping views of the Cote d’Azur all she wanted to do was take off her shoes and relax for a few minutes. No such luck in the crux of this go-go-go festival.

Kidman has been working a lot lately but all she’s looking forward to next is finally getting back to her ”normal” life again before tackling Grace Kelly’s anything-but-normal life in late Fall  here in the South of France. Since making changes in her team a couple of years ago (she signed with Geyer Kosinski who also manages Angelina Jolie), the kinds of movies she’s doing are consistently more challenging and of a risk-taking nature, which is the way she likes it. The Oscar winner (The Hours) has often been drawn throughout her career to edgier material but now it seems to be her mantra. From her role as a Southern trollop in Lee Daniels’  The Paperboy which got Cannes twittering on Thursday to her first big … Read More »

Comments 27

Indomina Rolls With ‘Holy Motors’ For U.S.

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Sunday May 27, 2012 @ 4:28am EDTTags: Holy Motors, Indomnia, Leos Carax

The Indomina Group has acquired US distribution rights to Leos Carax’s Cannes competition title, Holy Motors. The film enjoyed a robust reception when it premiered here last week to mark Carax’s first time in competition since 1999’s Pola X. Some are calling it a strong candidate for the Palme d’Or tonight. The experimental work chronicles a few hours in the life of Monsieur Oscar, a shadowy character chauffeured around Paris in a white limousine who takes on different roles for his various “appointments.” Longtime Carax collaborator Denis Lavant stars along with Eva Mendes, Kylie Minogue and Michel Piccoli. Indomina’s Rob Williams negotiated the deal with Wild Bunch’s Carole Baraton.

Comments (1)

UK Editor Arrested In News Corp Scandal

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 26, 2012 @ 9:17pm EDTTags: News Corp, News International, The Sun

An employee at News Corp’s British publishing unit was arrested today on suspicion of conspiring to corrupt public officials with illegal payments for stories, Bloomberg reports. Police didn’t identify the 37-year-old but the Telegraph newspaper said she was Clodagh Hartley, a government editor for The Sun tabloid. She was released on bail. News International confirmed the woman arrested today was an employee but declined to comment further. Her arrest was the result of new information provided to police by News Corp’s Management Standards Committee which is handling the company’s internal investigation.

Related: Rebekah Brooks First Person Charged In News Corp Scandal

Comments (2)

Oscilloscope Takes U.S. Rights To ‘Reality’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 26, 2012 @ 4:21pm EDTTags: Matteo Garrone, Oscilloscope Laboratories, Reality

Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired U.S. rights to Matteo Garrone’s Cannes competition film Reality, his first feature since 2008’s critically acclaimed and award-winning Gomorrah. Oscilloscope will take the film to additional festivals this fall with a theatrical, DVD, and digital release to follow early next year. Reality is a darkly comic portrait of Luciano, a fishmonger whose unexpected and sudden obsession with being a contestant on Big Brother leads him down a rabbit hole of skewed perceptions and paranoia. Reality was produced by Garrone and Domenico Procacci (Gomorrah), with Jean Labadie of Le Pacte as co-producer. Deal was negotiated by Dan Berger and David Laub of Oscilloscope with Janine Gold of Fandango Portobello assisted by Garrone’s U.S. reps Bart Walker of Cinetic Media and Jeff Berg of ICM.

Comments (0)

IFC Midnight Buys ‘Taste Of Money’: Cannes

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 26, 2012 @ 2:26pm EDTTags: IFC Midnight, Im Sang-Soo, The Taste Of Money

CANNES (May 25, 2012) – IFC Midnight announced today from the 2012 Cannes Film Festival that the company is acquiring North American rights to THE TASTE OF MONEY directed by Im Sang-Soo (THE HOUSEMAID). The film, also with a screenplay by Sang-Soo, stars Kim Kang-Woo, Baek Yoon-Sik, Youn Yuh-Jung and Kim Hyo-Jin. Son Kwang-Ik and Kim Won-Kuk served as executive producers while Lee Nam-Hee and Seo Jung-Hun produced. The film had its world premiere earlier in the week in competition at the Cannes Film Festival.

In THE TASTE OF MONEY, Korea’s greatest provocateur Im Sang-Soo takes us inside Korea’s most privileged family. Joo Young-Jak is the private male secretary of Baek Geum-Ok, middle-aged heiress and wife of a rich chaebol. Baek covets Joo’s young body, and he has already sold his pride for money a long time ago. What tangles up their relationship is the appearance of Baek’s daughter Na-Mi, a girl so different than her wealth obsessed parents. When romantic feelings begin to develop between the two, Baek is challenged with his conflicting desires for money and love.

Read More »

Comments (0)

Cannes Un Certain Regard: Michel Franco’s ‘Despues De Lucia’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 26, 2012 @ 2:03pm EDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Despues De Lucia, Michel Franco, Un Certain Regard

Mexico director Michel Franco’s Despues De Lucia (After Lucia) took the top prize today in the Un Certain Regard sidebar to the Cannes Film Festival. There was a tie for best actress for Emilie Dequenne for Joachim LaFosse’s A Perdre La Raison and Suzanne Clement for Xavier Dolan’s Laurence Always. Those were the only acting nods this year. Jury president Tim Roth said the decisions were tough. Special jury prize went to directors Benoit Delephine and Gustav Kervern for Le Grand Soir. Special distinction of the jury to director Aida Begic for Djeca (Children Of Sarajevo).

Separately, Sundance hit Beasts Of The Southern Wild and Into The Fog were recognized in the Fipresci Critics Week event.

Comments (0)

Jay Leno Celebrates 20th Anniversary Hosting ‘The Tonight Show’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 26, 2012 @ 12:35pm EDTTags: Jay Leno, The Tonight Show

Comments 68

‘Mud’: Did Cannes Save One Of The Best For Last? McConaughey, Witherspoon Speak Up

By PETE HAMMOND | Saturday May 26, 2012 @ 10:16am EDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Matthew McConaughey, Mud, Paul Newman, Reese Witherspoon, Tye Sheridan
Pete Hammond

Judging from the bad buzz that has haunted it since a 2PM buyers screening on May 16, the first day of the 65th Cannes Film Festival, you might have thought FilmNation’s and Everest Entertainment’s  Mud was as appealing at its title. One published report a couple of days later said despite the fact it is one of the few movies with major stars still up for grabs and looking for distribution that “it didn’t take long for the theatre to start clearing out” including Harvey Weinstein who supposedly “left after 20 minutes” according to the report. (Actually that reporter got it wrong according to a well-placed source with knowledge of the situation. Weinstein stayed an hour before leaving but had told the filmmakers in advance he couldn’t stay for the entire duration of the film).

Well, those guys may have blown it. Now on the last day of official competition screenings Mud, which features big names like Matthew McConaughey and Reese Witherspoon and was directed and written by Take Shelter‘s Jeff Nichols, finally had its long-awaited press screening Saturday morning (official premiere is tonight) as the last of the 22 entries to be shown to the media and the response was clearly a lot more enthusiastic than what came out of that ill-fated first buyers screening (a second one was held a few days later). In fact it received by far the biggest applause I have yet heard at one of these 8:30AM screenings. Usually there’s just a trickle, … Read More »

Comments 20

Cannes Podcast: Pete Hammond On ‘Lawless’, ‘Rust And Bone’ And More

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday May 25, 2012 @ 11:57pm EDTTags: Brad Pitt, Cannes Film Festival, Garrett Hedlund, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman

Deadline’s Pete Hammond talks about hot festival movies such as (clockwise from top left) the superb Prohibition-era shoot-’em-up Lawless with Tom Hardy and Shia LeBeouf; Rust And Bone, with an awards-worthy star turn by Marion Cotillard, shown with Matthias Schoenaerts; Brad Pitt, pictured with Richard Jenkins, in the Mitchum-esque noir thriller Killing Them Softly; the crowd-pleasing Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted; and Jack Kerouac’s On The Road, brought to the screen by Walter Salles with a star-making turn from Garrett Hedlund, shown with Kristen Stewart and Sam Riley in the back seat. Other hot movies include a pair of Nicole Kidman triumphs — (below from left) Lee Daniels’ over-the-top The Paperboy and Philip Kaufman’s HBO epic Hemingway And Gellhorn plus Michael Haneke’s brilliant but challenging Amour. You can listen to Pete’s podcast from Cannes here.

Comments (6)

Over-Achievers Of This Year’s Upfront

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday May 25, 2012 @ 9:58pm EDTTags: Chernin Entertaiment, Fake Empire, Greg Berlanti, Mark Gordon Co., Upfronts
Nellie Andreeva

Greg Berlanti entered the upfronts as the producer with the most pilots this year — four — in his first development season at Warner Bros. TV. Two of them, the CW’s Arrow and CBS’ Golden Boy, went to series, while a third, Fox legal drama Guilty, has a solid shot at a midseason order. Additionally, Berlanti has cable series Political Animals launching on USA this summer. Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage‘s Fake Empire also netted two new broadcast series orders. The company went 2-for-2 with its two pilots, the CW’s The Carrie Diaries and Cult, to increase its primetime portfolio to four series next season, including returning CW dramas Gossip Girl and Hart Of Dixie, and tie the Mark Gordon Co. as the pods with the most broadcast shows on the air. In addition to newly picked up comedy Family Tools and returning Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice and Criminal Minds, the Mark Gordon Co. also has Army Wives on Lifetime. With CSI: Miami ending its run, Bruckheimer TV will have three series on the air next season, same as Chernin Entertainment, which added one new series, Fox comedy Ben & Kate, to its returning New Girl and Touch; J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot (newbie Revolution and returning Person of Interest and Fringe) and Alloy (666 Park Ave, The Vampire Diaries, Gossip Girl).

Besides Fake Empire, the only other entity to log a 1.000 batting average this upfront was Lionsgate TV, also with two series out of two pilots, ABC darling Nashville and NBC’ midseason comedy Next Caller. The pickups capped the company’s renewed push into broadcast TV led by Chris Selak in her first season as head of development. Another established company in its first development cycle with a new top development executive, Wolf Films, which hired Danielle Gelber last July, landed its first non-Law & Order-branded new series in six years, NBC’s Chicago Fire. Two newly launched pods, Peter Traugott‘s Traugott Company and Lorenzo DiBonaventura‘s DiBonaventura Pictures Television, also scored series orders in their first year, NBC drama Do No Harm and ABC drama Zero Hour, respectively, as did two indies, Gaumont and Georgeville. Read More »

Comments (13)
More Deadline | New York »